Practices and Processes: The Successful Department Chair/Academic Program Director

Friday January 7, Noon – 1:00 pm Central/1:00 – 2:00 pm Eastern
Presenter: Leah Dvorak

Audience: Department Chairs, Program Directors

What are the expectations for the role of Department Chair or Academic Program Director? An effective chair or academic program director manages faculty, staff, programs, courses, and processes vital to student success. The effective chair also fosters a healthy departmental culture and establishes efficient, collaborative decision-making processes. A strong department chair or program director uses both management skills and leadership skills to create and sustain a successful department in which faculty and staff feel engaged and energized.

New and Returning Faculty Development Day

Tuesday January 11, 8:15 – 4:00 Central/9:15 – 5:00 Eastern
All sessions are via Zoom

Schedule

Designing Your Course and Syllabus – Kate Robertson, Joanna Pheifer, and Elizabeth Evans
8:15 – 9:45 am Central/9:15 – 10:45 am Eastern

• Learn about and incorporate best practices in syllabus development and course design. Discussion will include the Concordia University syllabus template, including the latest revision for this fall, how to demonstrate connection to Global Learning Outcomes and what is required to document the credit hour policy.

Blackboard Basics – Susan Gallanis, Justin Frisque
10:00 – 11:30 am Central/11:00 am – 12:30 pm Eastern

• Learn how to add content, Blackboard Assignments (“dropboxes”) and set up the gradebook for a Spring course! This is an ideal session for faculty new to using Blackboard.

Engaging Your Learner – Susan Gallanis, Kate Robertson, and Diana Belscamper
11:45 am – 12:45 pm Central/12:45 – 1:45 pm Eastern

• Effective teaching fosters learning; students need to be engaged for learning to happen. This session introduces strategies to engage students in multiple instructional modes.

Blackboard Tests and Respondus LockDown Browser with Monitor with Susan Gallanis and Justin Frisque
1:00 – 2:30 pm Central/2:00 – 3:30 pm Eastern

• The first half of this session will show how faculty can create Blackboard Tests using three commonly used question types. The second half of the session will cover Respondus LockDown Browser and Monitor. Faculty will learn the difference between LockDown Browser and Monitor, and how to enable the appropriate settings based on where students take the test.

Faculty Resources – Elizabeth Evans, Susan Gallanis, and Wayne Thompson
3:00 – 4:00 pm Central/4:00 – 5:00 pm Eastern

• Learn what resources are available to you as faculty, including research/scholarship support, where to find them, and who to contact if you need more help.

After submitting your registration, the CELT Student Worker will send you an Outlook invitation for each session you registered for and it will include the Zoom link. Please accept the invitation(s) as you will not receive a separate email confirmation.

SoTL Workshop with Erin Laverick [CUAA only]

Wednesday January 12, 9:00 am – 2:00 pm Eastern
In person on the Ann Arbor campus

This session is for Ann Arbor faculty. During this workshop, we will define and discuss SoTL (scholarship of teaching and learning) and share ideas for designing SoTL projects. There will also be time devoted to writing research questions and planning a study. Morning refreshments and lunch is included. Participants will also receive a copy of Bishop-Clark and Dietz-Uhler’s book Engaging in the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning.

Tentative Schedule:

9:00-9:30 Coffee and Pastries
9:30-10:00 Freewrite & Discussion about SoTL in general
10:00-11:30 Defining and Designing SoTL Projects
11:30-12:30 Lunch
12:30-2:00 Workshop time -writing research questions and planning a study

Workshop for CIRG Applicants

Wednesday January 12, 1:00 – 2:00 pm Central/2:00 – 3:00 pm Eastern via Zoom

Presenters: Natasha Irish, Rachel Heil

Note: First-time CIRG applicants must attend this workshop to be eligible for grant funding.

This workshop is to help faculty with the CIRG grants application process. The workshop will focus on the following:

1. Budget Development (Ensuring that your budget is appropriate, addresses necessary resources, and is justified)
2. Objectives and Outcomes (Developing goals, objectives, and outcomes)
3. Efficient and professional writing (Ensuring that your proposal is concise, specific, and clearly communicates your intent)

The purpose of these grants is to support scholarly activity among interested full-time Concordia University faculty. These grants are intended to function as seed money in obtaining additional funding from outside sources. If you are unsure if your idea is eligible, please review the definition of scholarship described in the CU Faculty handbook, or review the application for further information. CIRG is a faculty committee, and full-time faculty in all disciplines are encouraged to apply for a grant. Examples of past successfully funded proposals can be found in the portal link faculty page under the “research and scholarship” tab, along with the application.

Traditional Adjunct Orientation

Thursday January 13, 5:00 – 7:00 pm Central time over Zoom
Presenters: Elizabeth Evans, Dan Paavola, Elizabeth Polzin, Susan Gallanis, Andrew Wahl, Jan Chapman

This orientation session is for new and returning traditional adjuncts teaching in-person at the Mequon campus.

Faculty Discussion of Academic Freedom

Three options, choose one:

• In-person at Ann Arbor – Thursday January 13, 1:00 – 2:30 pm Eastern time in the Music Lecture Hall, Kreft Arts Center. Leader: Charles Schulz.
• In-person Mequon – Tuesday January 18, 2:00 – 3:30 pm Central time in the Friends of Concordia Room. Leaders: Jordan Beck and Dan Sem.
• Zoom for both campuses – Thursday January 20, 2:00 – 3:30 pm Central/3:00 – 4:30 Eastern. Leaders: Jordan Beck and Dan Sem.

Sponsored by the Academic Freedom Task Force (Jordan Beck, Dan Sem, Arletta Frazier, Charles Schulz, Mikaely Schmitz, Angus Menuge)

Academic freedom, indicating the unfettered pursuit of truth through research and the exchange of ideas, is a cherished value on American university campuses. At the same time, Concordia University has always understood the exercise of academic freedom within the context of its commitments as a Lutheran University. Moreover, political and social discourse raise questions about, if not challenges to, the limits of academic freedom.

The Academic Freedom Task Force has produced a document in an effort to articulate what academic freedom means for us at Concordia University. We desire to trace the foundation of our understanding and exercise of this freedom to our commitment as Christian educators to pursue truth in teaching and learning. Our goal is to arrive at a consensus about the content of this document, which can then be used to evaluate or further develop our policies and procedures around academic freedom. We also hope to generate discussions and promote insights which lead us all to greater clarity and confidence in the exercise of academic freedom at Concordia.

In this session, faculty will gather to discuss academic freedom generally, respond to the task force document, and highlight discipline-specific issues related to the topic.

Blackboard Tests: Beyond the Basics

Friday January 14, 10:00 – 11:00 am Central/11:00 am – 12:00 pm Eastern

Presenter: Justin Frisque

This session is for faculty who are responsible for setting up their own course in Blackboard and are familiar with setting up a Blackboard test. During this session participants will learn how to set up tests using pools of questions using random blocks and question sets, how to use the “categories and keywords” section of a test question, and how to copy a test to another course.

Practices & Processes: Academic Program Assessment of Student Learning

Friday January 14, Noon – 1:00 pm Central/1:00 – 2:00 pm Eastern via Zoom

Presenters: Elizabeth Evans, Tammy Ferry and Susan Gallanis

Audience: Department Chairs, Program Directors, Program Coordinators, Assessment Coordinators, and Supporting Staff

This session highlights the support available for curriculum mapping, the academic cycle of continuous improvement and assessment reporting processes, alignment of Program Learning Outcomes and Global Learning Outcomes, Focus GLOs each year, the EAC tool in Blackboard, how to find resources in the Assessment of Student Learning Outcomes portal channel, and quality indicators of effective academic program assessment process at Concordia.

Comprehensive Budget Management

Two sessions, choose one:
Wednesday January 19, 1:00 – 2:00 pm Central/2:00 – 3:00 pm Eastern via Zoom
Thursday January 20, 10:00 – 11:00 am Central/11:00 am – Noon Eastern via Zoom

Presenter: Andy Dunn

Audience: All budget managers and administrative assistants who are responsible for entering and/or overseeing the budget of an academic program or administrative area.

This presentation will cover:

• The FY23 budget process
• Budgeting tips
• 2 types of analysis that budget managers can use as they prepare their budgets:
  • Using the budget dashboard tool in Pyramid
  • Using our Banner system

Christian Vocation and Personal Meaning: Supporting Student Mental Health

Thursday January 20, 11:30 – 1:00 Central/12:30 – 2:00 Eastern via Zoom

Presenter: Rachel Pickett, Professor of Psychology, Department Chair

This session will focus on the concept of Christian Vocation as a way to engage students in exploring meaning and purpose as a tool to foster positive psychological well-being. A brief foundation on the impact of COVID19 and student mental health will be provided along with research supporting the link between meaning, purpose, and well-being. Resources on vocational discernment, campus outlets/referral processes, and discussion techniques grounded in humanism will be presented. Participants will explore ways to incorporate vocation in their interactions with students. This workshop can apply to the NetVUE grant.

Blackboard Discussion Boards

Friday January 21, 10:00 – 11:00 am Central/11:00 am – 12:00 pm Eastern via Zoom

Presenter: Susan Gallanis

This session is for faculty who are responsible for setting up their own course in Blackboard. Learn how to set up two different types of discussion boards: one where the entire class participates on a discussion board and another where the class is split into groups and each group has its own discussion board.

2022 Jan 11 Faculty Resources Handout

Session Recording